Geneva Public Transport (TPG) - Articles and news items

Between 2003 and 2013, additions to the local tram network doubled the offer of Geneva’s public transport system. But between 2014 and 2019, the picture will be different. Emmanuel Fankhauser, Network Development Manager at TPG, explains that no major infrastructure projects or developments are planned on the network, but concentration will be placed on optimisation and reorganisation of their services…

LOST – which has nothing to do with missing people or the famed TV series – stands for the new law on transportation company security bodies which came into force throughout Switzerland on 1 October 2011, and the country’s public transport companies had nearly a year to apply it to daily operations. Implementing this new law on the TPG network (Geneva’s public transport company) required a new collaboration with the CFF (Chemins de Fer Fédéraux) Railway Police, known as Polfer. Pierre-Yves Gruaz – Chief Operating Officer of TPG – provides further information about LOST and explains that Polfer have been accompanying TPG’s own security agents on the ground and lending a hand since autumn 2011…

The Geneva tram network operated by TPG, the public transport authority, is undergoing a development that is nothing short of revolutionary. By the end of 2011, when our three separate lines come into operation, we will have a network that is simpler, more comprehensible and easier to manage in the event of disruptions.

Until then, the six tram lines that are currently in service today – lines 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 – will continue to provide what is called in the professional jargon a ‘meshed system’. What this means is that two lines share the same terminus but serve different routes, even though certain sections intersect at some of the main transfer points on the network.

Geneva and the tramway – this is an old story of being in-love and out-of-love. Following an impressive expansion between 1903 and 1924, (at its peak, the Geneva tram system was one of the most extensive in Europe), there was a period of long recess during the 1920s. Then came a re-burst of passion: at the beginning of the 1990s, after 30 years of dismantling, the tram became popular again. While certain sections of rails from that period have remained in place and are still being used today, we have come a far way from the steam powered tram and Geneva’s first electrical trams. Technology has evolved immensely and the Geneva Public Transport (TPG) has followed in its movement.

In Switzerland, the Lake Geneva region, and more particularly the Geneva conurbation, is at the very heart of an unprecedented demographic change, where demand for public transport is very high. Geneva Public Transport (TPG) is one of the few creditable responses to the exponential growth in mobility, which makes its involvement in the cantonal transport policy absolutely essential.

In Geneva, any mention of mobility has to take account of Geneva Public Transport. Every day, more than 416,000 consumers use TPG services – equivalent to 151 million journeys per year – and this with a total population in Geneva amounting to approximately 450,000 inhabitants. These figures serve to confirm that TPG is the main operator in a region comprising, not only the conurbation of Geneva, but also the cross-border zones of nearby France and the canton of Vaud.